Max appeared with the black bag.
Ignatius Wetzel selected two fearful instruments, bright and new, and
hugged them to his bosom. "My little boys," he said, tenderly, as if
they were his children; "my blessed little boys, come to work!" He
turned to the assistant. "Do you remember the battle of Solferino,
Max--and the Austrian soldier I operated on for a wound on the head?"
The assistant's sleepy eyes opened wide; he was evidently interested. "I
remember," he said. "I held the candle."
The master led the way to the bed.
"I am not satisfied with the result of that operation at Solferino," he
said; "I have wanted to try again ever since. It's true that I saved the
man's life, but I failed to give him back his reason along with it. It
might have been something wrong in the operation, or it might have been
something wrong in the man. Whichever it was, he will live and die mad.
Now look here, my little Max, at this dear young lady on the bed. She
gives me just what I wanted; here is the case at Solferino once more.
You shall hold the candle again, my good boy; stand there, and look with
all your eyes. I am going to try if I can save the life and the reason
too this time."
He tucked up the cuffs of his coat and began the operation. As his
fearful instruments touched Grace's head, the voice of the sentinel at
the nearest outpost was heard, giving the word in German which permitted
Mercy to take the first step on her journey to England: "Pass the English lady!"
The operation proceeded. The voice of the sentinel at the next post was
heard more faintly, in its turn: "Pass the English lady!"
The operation ended. Ignatius Wetzel held up his hand for silence and
put his ear close to the patient's mouth.
The first trembling breath of returning life fluttered over Grace
Roseberry's lips and touched the old man's wrinkled cheek. "Aha!" he
cried. "Good girl! you breathe--you live!" As he spoke, the voice of the
sentinel at the final limit of the German lines (barely audible in the
distance) gave the word for the last time: "Pass the English lady!"
PREAMBLE.
THE place is England.
The time is winter, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy.
The persons are, Julian Gray, Horace Holmcroft, Lady Janet Roy, Grace
Roseberry, and Mercy Merrick.